


Forever Etched in Skin

by Ilovecastiel18



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Angst, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-31
Updated: 2016-09-05
Packaged: 2020-06-15 02:37:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,689
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19601788
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ilovecastiel18/pseuds/Ilovecastiel18
Summary: AU fifth-year. Professor McGonagall sees the scars on the back of Harry’s hand and questions him about it. Professors Snape and Dumbledore may also make an appearance. Snape is a bit OOC, and Harry is a little more mature than usual. Mild language warning.





	1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer:** I do not own any characters used in this story, all recognizable names, locations, and characters are property of the wonderful JK Rowling, who was lovely enough to bless us with the Harry Potter books to become obsessed with as I have.

…………..

Forever Etched in Skin  
…………..

Chapter 1

Harry rolled out of his four-poster bed, his feet hitting the cold stone floor with a soft thump. It was 2:00 a.m., but a nightmare had woken him up, and he couldn’t get back to sleep. He knew he would regret it in the morning, but he decided to just read Quidditch Through the Ages until a time that he could shower without feeling bad for waking up his dorm mates. He fished the book out of his trunk and settled against his headboard to read by wand light.

……………..

At 7:00, Harry put his book down and slid back out from under his covers to take a shower. It was still a bit early, since breakfast was at 8:00, but he had gotten bored with reading, even if it was about his favorite thing to do.

After his shower, he met up with Ron and Hermione in the common room to go to breakfast a bit early. Hermione, predictable as ever, decided it was a good time to continue their argument about his detentions with Umbridge.

“Think about it, Harry, Professor Dumbledore would go _ballistic_ if he knew what Umbridge was doing, not to mention what Professor McGonagall would do…” Hermione started. Ron was busy stuffing his mouth to the breaking point to pay much attention to the conversation.

“Hermione, I _know._ We’ve had this argument about a million times. I don’t want to bother Dumbledore with this when he doesn’t have time to even look at me anymore. Besides, if I tell someone, she wins. I won’t have that.” Harry cut Hermione off.

“But, Harry…”

“Hermione, give it a rest. Let the man have at least a peaceful breakfast. If you just can’t let it go, at least wait until Tranfiguration or Charms where we’re less likely to be heard. Honestly, the man just rolled out of bed an hour ago and you’ve already brought this up, it’s getting a bit old, right mate?” Ron gave Harry a pointed look before once again filing his mouth to stretching point.

Harry had started to doze off, his head falling onto his arm. His head snapped up when Ron mentioned his name, and he gave a small nod before returning to his eggs and bacon, purposefully ignoring Hermione’s curious looks.

…………….

Transfiguration was the first class of the day. Harry reluctantly made his way from the Great Hall up to the Transfiguration classroom, wanting to crawl back into bed. His early morning had come back to bite him in the arse.

He, Ron, and Hermione made their way to their usual desk, and Harry immediately plopped down in the seat and rested his head on his hands, forcing his reluctant eyes to stay open. He could just skip History of Magic next and catch a quick nap before lunch.

Professor McGonagall looked up from the essay she was grading when everyone was seated, and looked over the class. Her eyes rested a bit longer on Harry, noticing the bags under his eyes and the way his eyes were drifting shut before they snapped back open. She gave him a curious look before starting the lesson. Harry was so tired he didn’t even notice.

……………..

“Honestly, Harry, maybe you should stay after class and tell Professor McGonagall-“ Hermione started, jabbing her wand at the mouse they were supposed to be transfiguring into a Sugar Mouse. It instantly turned into a bright white, sugary, stationary piece of candy.

“I said _no,_ Hermione! I don’t need to bother Professor McGonagall with petty stuff like this!” Harry exclaimed, throwing his hands up in the air, making the sleeves of his school robe fall to his elbows.

“It’s not petty-“

“Very good, Miss Granger. This is perfectly transfigured. Ten points to Gryffindor.” Professor McGonagall had walked up behind the desk while they were talking, noticing how Harry’s head was still drooping. He had even forgotten to pull his sleeves back down….

“Mr. Potter!” she exclaimed, noticing the red scars on the back of his hand.

“Yes, Professor?” Harry answered, following her gaze down to his hand. He hastily pulled his sleeve back down to cover the back of his hand, but he had a feeling he was too late.

“Stay after class. I need a word with you,” Professor McGonagall started. The bell rang, signaling the end of class. “Mr. Weasley, Miss Granger, would you please let Professor Binns know that Harry is with me, and he is, in fact, not skipping class. Though I doubt he would actually notice…” Professor McGonagall smiled and ushered them out the door, closing it behind them.

“So, Harry,” Harry registered the use of his given name; this was not good. “Care to explain to me how those scars came to be on the back of your hand. It looked a bit like letters, but I couldn’t make them out before you pulled your sleeve down. May I see your hand, please?” Professor McGonagall held out her hand to take his.

Every ounce of drowsiness was gone from Harry’s system; he had to find a way out of this. “You see Professor, I injured myself-“ Harry started.

“Please don’t lie to me, Harry. I only want to help you. Your hand, please.” McGonagall didn’t phrase it as a question this time, it was an order. Harry sighed and reluctantly placed his hand palm down in Professor McGonagall’s, waiting for the explosion that was sure to happen.

“I must not tell…HOW DID THIS GET ON YOUR HAND, HARRY?!?!” McGonagall yelled. Harry winced at the volume and shrillness that accompanied her outburst, and tried to tug his hand out of McGonagall’s. “I’m sorry, Harry, I didn’t mean to shout. How did this get on your hand?” McGonagall held onto his hand, and replied calmly, though Harry could see the rage burning in her eyes.

“Um … well … see … Umbridge’s detentions … they … um … well … shemakesmeuseaspecialquillthatcutsthebackofmyhandopenandtakesbloodfrommyhandtouseasink.”

“Slow down, Harry, what is this about Umbridge?” Harry registered that this was the only Professor he had heard Professor McGonagall refer to last name only; he didn’t call her a professor. That alone caused Harry to take a deep breath and repeat what he had said so McGonagall could understand him.

“Um, in Umbridge’s detentions, um, she makes me use this special quill that, um, cuts the back of my hand open and, um, takes my blood to use as ink.” Harry replied, already bracing himself for the imminent outburst from his Head of House.

Harry could see McGonagall’s gears turning in her head before she opened her mouth and yelled, louder than he’d ever heard her, “ _SHE USED A BLOOD QUILL ON A STUDENT?!?!?!_ ON ONE OF MY GRYFFINDORS?!?!?! I’M GOING TO KICK HER UGLY TOAD ARSE!!!!!” McGonagall abruptly dropped Harry’s hand and started toward the door.

“Professor, WAIT!!!” Harry yelled. McGonagall slowed her brisk pace to a stop before turning to face Harry, rage burning in her eyes. “Don’t go and hex her or anything, please Professor. I don’t want you losing your job on my account.” Harry pleaded, making his way over to stand in front of his Head of House.

“But…that _bitch_ …she…she used a blood quill on…on… _she used a blood quill on one of my Gryffindors!_ ” Harry’s usually composed and articulate Tranfiguration professor was stuttering and swearing, this wasn’t a good sign.

“It…um…wasn’t just me she used it on. I know for a fact that she used it on Lee Jordan also…” Harry had to stop and grab his professor’s hand to stop her from storming out and kicking Umbridge’s arse. “Please, Professor. I don’t want you to get sacked for this. She’ll win, and we’ll lose an amazing teacher and Head of House.” Harry continued to plead. McGonagall physically deflated a bit when Harry said she was an amazing teacher, and she seemed to calm enough to be able to think a bit rationally.

Harry could see McGonagall going through a heated internal debate, before she grabbed his hand just as abruptly as she had dropped it earlier. “Come with me, Harry.” She dragged him out of her classroom and off in the direction of Dumbledore’s office.

“NO!” Harry yelled, coming to stop in the middle of the corridor, despite McGonagall still trying to drag him along. “I don’t want to bother Professor Dumbledore with this.” Harry stated firmly.

“This isn’t up for debate, Potter,” Harry registered the renewed use of his last name, “You’re lucky you stopped me from hexing her until she was actually the toad that she looks like. You subtly flattery worked. However, you will not stop me from bringing this up to the Headmaster. That toad must be stopped.” McGonagall stated, her usual stern teaching mode back in place.

“Can Dumbledore really do anything anyway? Fudge already has it out for him, won’t accusing Umbridge of…whatever she did…make things worse?” Harry continued desperately.

“Using a blood quill is extremely illegal, Potter, especially since she repeatedly used it on a _child_. We will have her toad arse thrown into Azkaban, and there isn’t a damn thing Fudge can do about it.” McGonagall replied, the rage still dancing in her eyes.

Harry sighed and let McGonagall continue to drag him down the corridor, it seemed there wasn’t a damn thing he could do about this.

……………

They finally reached Dumbledore’s office, and proceeded onto the spiral staircase, McGonagall still holding Harry by the wrist of his left hand, the scars clearly visible. McGonagall barked “Chocolate Frog!” at the gargoyles guarding the office, and it seemed to Harry that they jumped out of the way a lot faster than normal. It seemed even stone gargoyles knew to stay out of the way of an enraged Minerva McGonagall.

McGonagall didn’t even bother knocking on the office door, and proceeded to barge in unannounced, making Dumbledore give her a look of confusion, and making Snape, who was sitting in the chair across from Dumbledore’s desk, scowl.

“Minerva, Harry! What a surprise! Would you like a lemon-“

“DON’T START ON YOUR RIDICULOUS CANDIES, ALBUS!!! YOU HIRED THAT DAMN TOAD TO INEFFECTIVELY TEACH OUR STUDENTS, AND THEN LET HER PROCEED TO _ILLEGALLY HARM THE CHILDREN UNDER OUR CARE!!!!!!!!!!_ ” McGonagall screamed, making Dumbledore’s eyebrows disappear into his white hair and Snape’s scowl disappear into a curious expression.

“Minerva, whatever are you talking about?” Dumbledore asked carefully, noticing that McGonagall was boiling over with seething rage.

“That _bitch_ used a blood quill on our students!!” McGonagall yelled, thrusting Harry forward, left hand first. The lighting in Dumbledore’s office caught Harry’s scars, making them clearly visible to everyone in the room.

Snape’s face instantly grew murderous, genuinely surprising Harry. Snape didn’t care about Harry, he didn’t even like him, why should he be mad that a blood quill was used on him?

Harry was even more surprised when the whirring instruments around the room started shaking, and nearly jumped out of his skin when about a dozen of them exploded. He whipped his head around to see Dumbledore staring off into the distance, white-faced with rage. Harry could physically see Dumbledore struggling to get his magic under control. Five more instruments exploded before he accomplished that feat.

Snape recovered from the shock of Dumbledore losing control of his magic first, and his face turned from pure shock back into murderous. He grabbed Harry’s hand, gentler than Harry would ever had dreamed possible, and held it up to the light for examination.

Harry had had a week off from detention, but the skin around the cuts was still pink and tender, and the words _I must not tell lies_ were blood red, brittle scabs, forever etched into his skin.

“That…woman…did this to you? For what reason?” Snape’s hands and words were shaking slightly, and he wasn’t talking nearly as smoothly as usual, yet he seemed the only adult in the room with any composer. McGonagall was sitting next to Snape, visibly seething, completely oblivious to the conversation next to here. Dumbledore was pacing near the window, still obviously struggling to keep his magic under control. He seemed oblivious to the conversation as well.

“Well, I said in class that Vol-“

“Don’t say his name!” Snape winced as pain seared up his Dark Mark.

“Sorry, Professor,” Snape was shocked at the amount of respect he was receiving from Harry, as well as the fact that he didn’t argue. _He must really be out of it,_ Snape thought. “I said in class the first day that he was back, and she yelled at me, and I argued a bit, so she assigned me a week’s worth of these detentions, then I did it again the second class, and ever since she’s found every reason possible to give me a week’s worth of detentions. One time she gave me a week of them for writing my name down on a piece of parchment while she was writing on the board the instructions for the essay we were writing that day.” Harry shrugged and pushed on a bit more. “I never wanted to bother anyone with this. I can live with it. It’s not like she’s using the Cruciatus Curse on me or anything, though I wouldn’t be surprised if she decided to one day. Sorry to be a bother, Professor. I’m sure seeing me outside of class is making your day.” Harry rolled his eyes and tried to tug his hand away from Snape’s.

“Harry,” Harry registered that Snape, _Snape_ , had called him Harry. “Contrary to popular belief, I do have a heart, and I have come to care about you a lot over your years of foolishness here. I have to pretend to hate you in class because there are children of Death Eaters in your class, and it would not be good if the Dark Lord heard I was being nice to you. I do care about you though, Harry. I don’t hate you. And I hate seeing that despite all of my work trying to protect you, you have still found a way to have bodily harm inflicted upon you, by a professor, no less.” There wasn’t even a hint of sarcasm in Snape’s statement, except at the end. Harry was shell-shocked, to say the least.

“That’s good, Professor, because, despite the fact that you believe I do, I don’t hate you either. I figured you were mean to me in class because of Malfoy and his cronies. I didn’t like you first year, but then Quirrell told me that you saved my life when he tried to kill me during the Quidditch match. Ever since I’ve only pretended to hate you for the sake of Malfoy and the other Slytherins in the class. And, even though you’re biased against Gryffindors, you’re actually a pretty good teacher.” Harry gave Snape a small smile, which his professor returned.

Harry then turned to Dumbledore, who was still pacing. “Professor Dumbledore!” Harry yelled to get his attention. Dumbledore instantly snapped back into reality, as did Professor McGonagall. “I know what you’re going to ask, Professors. Why didn’t I tell one of you? I didn’t tell any of you because I thought that if one of you tried to stop Umbridge, she would find a way to get you fired, or arrested. I can handle a little pain if it means keeping all of you here.”

“Harry, it’s illegal to even own a blood quill-“

“I was raised by muggles, Professor. I didn’t know what it was called or that it was illegal, so I decided that you guys were more important than me, and made a decision to protect you guys instead of myself.”

“We aren’t more important than you Harry…” Professor McGonagall started, but Harry cut her off.

“All three of you are to me.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright, I got multiple requests to continue this story in order to show what Snape and McGonagall did to Umbridge, because we all know they did something, so I’ve decided to add this chapter to give it a nice ending.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own any characters used in this story, all recognizable names, locations, and characters are property of the wonderful JK Rowling, who was lovely enough to bless us with the Harry Potter books to become obsessed with as I have.

…………..

Forever Etched in Skin  
…………

Chapter 2

“Oh, Harry…” Professor McGonagall started to say. She choked up, however, and resigned to sitting silently.

Dumbledore still had rage in his eyes, but it was dulled, and he no longer seemed to be struggling with his magic. His eyes seemed a little more moist than usual, and Harry couldn’t tell if it was because of what he had said, or if they were tears of rage. He seemed lost in thought.

Snape was the oddball. He looked as if he had been slapped in the face. He was so completely shocked that he didn’t even really register exactly what that statement had meant. All he registered was that Harry had said he cared about him, the greasy git of the dungeons. Not just Dumbledore and McGonagall, which he could understand, but Harry had included _him._ Now that he thought about it, he also realized that Harry had put Dumbledore, McGonagall, and _him,_ the greasy potions master, over his own safety. Snape was shell-shocked.

“Are you alright, sir?” Harry whispered to Snape, “You seem a bit, out of it I guess.” Harry tensed, waiting for Snape to yell at his for being disrespectful. He didn’t need to though.

“Harry, when you said you put us over your own safety, did you mean to include me in that statement, or was that a slip of the tongue?” Snape whispered back. Before, when he had been telling Harry his true intentions over the years, he hadn’t needed to whisper so Dumbledore and McGonagall couldn’t hear, they were so overcome with rage at Umbridge that they were completely lost in their own world. Now, however, they may be zoned out, but they weren’t as out of it as before, so he needed to be careful.

Harry, for his part, looked genuinely confused. “I told you before, Professor, I don’t hate you…” Harry started to whisper back.

“I know that, but I didn’t think you actually cared about me…” Snape cut Harry off. Now Harry just looked shocked.

“Professor, I know the danger you put yourself in everyday in order to spy on _him_ for the Order, not to mention what you’ve done for me. Of course I care about you!” Harry whispered back.

“Hm,” Snape whispered back, with a fake look of confusion on his face; though Harry could see the genuine happiness radiating off Snape that he was trying to cover up. “I never thought I’d see the day when a Potter would care about Severus Snape.”

Now Harry was a bit annoyed. “I am NOT my father, Professor. I’ve said that before. I know what happened when you, him, Sirius, Remus, and the traitor went to school, and I am genuinely sorry for what they did. I know my father can’t apologize, but I feel like he would’ve if he had been given the chance, so I’m doing it for him. However, that being said, Other that my looks and my skills on the Quidditch Pitch, you are the only person I know that thinks I’m like my dad. People actually tell me quite often that I’m more like my mother, because I’m not a bully, I’m bullied…” Harry was mid-rant when Snape cut him off.

“I know that, Harry. I’m sorry for saying that before, and I’m sorry for thinking it, also. I see now that you’re more like Lily.” Snape nearly choked on her name, but forced it out with as little emotion as possible. He had already gone through enough emotional turmoil today without having to explain to Harry about his love for his mother.

“There’s nothing to be sorry for, Professor. You said what you believed, I just hope you see me differently now.” Harry gave Snape a small smile, which was returned.

“I do, Harry.” Snape replied. “Now,” Snape said this louder, to get the attention of the others in the room. “What are we going to do about _her?_ ” He asked Dumbledore.

Dumbledore looked at Harry. “Harry, would you please wait outside, I would like to discuss this privately with Professors Snape and McGonagall, and then I have something I wish to speak to you about. Is that alright?” Dumbledore asked this politely, but it didn’t seem much like a suggestion, more like an order.

“Of course, Professor. Just…” Harry paused and glanced at Snape and McGonagall. “Please, Professors, don’t do anything to her that can lose you your jobs. I don’t want two of the best professors in the school sacked, or thrown into Azkaban, on my account.” Harry gave a small, sad smile to the room before turning his back to his teachers and walking out of the office, closing the door behind him.

………….

“Harry summed up what I was going to say perfectly.” Dumbledore stated once the door was closed. Usually, this statement would be accompanied by the eye twinkle they were accustomed to, but it was still absent from Dumbledore’s eyes.

“Nothing illegal, and make sure I can keep you two as teachers once you’re finished with her. Will you please send Harry in here on your way to…meet…with Dolores?” Dumbledore spat Umbridge’s name with more venom than either of them were accustomed to coming from the Headmaster.

“Alright, sir.” Snape’s voice still wasn’t as smooth as usual, but his usual cold demeanor was back in place, albeit shakily.

“Harry,” Snape called once he and McGonagall were out of the office and onto the spiral staircase.

“Yes, Professor?” Harry was sitting at the bottom of the staircase, fiddling with his wand.

“The Headmaster wishes to speak to you.” Snape nodded at Harry as he walked past and gave him a tiny smile, unseen by McGonagall, which was acknowledged by a full-force grin from Harry.

Snape could here Dumbledore before Harry closed the door. “I’ve been meaning to tell you this for a while, Harry…” _Must be about the prophecy,_ Snape thought, with a wave of self-hatred that always accompanied thoughts of that damned _thing_ that he had overheard and told Voldemort. _I’m the reason she’s dead_ …Snape stopped his train of thought, instead focusing on the task at hand.

_How to hurt that toad the worst without doing anything illegal…_

“Minerva, shouldn’t we talk about what we are going to do before we show up at her office threshold? I don’t trust you to go in there without a plan, I feel as if you’d get yourself thrown into Azkaban.” Snape asked, pulling McGonagall out of her thoughts.

“You’re probably right, Severus. We can go to my office, it’s closer than yours.” McGonagall muttered back. She was still somewhat lost in her thoughts of all of the things she _wished_ she could do to that toad.

Once they made it to her office, McGonagall immediately closed the door and started pacing around the room.

“I cannot believe that _toad_ made a student use a blood quill for detention, and not just Harry either…” McGonagall was muttering.

“Not just Harry?” Snape questioned.

“Oh no, that women also made Lee Jordan and who knows how many others use that damn thing. I swear if I didn’t like my job…” McGonagall resorted back to muttering under her breath. Snape complied for a few minutes before pulling her back out of her thoughts.

“I believe we should wait until classes are finished tonight before we do anything, since we both have classes after lunch.” Snape tried to say in his usual drawling voice, but it was still a bit shaky, so he ended up sounding like he had a head cold.

“Huh? Oh, right, legal payback, um, yeah, we should probably wait until after classes, though I don’t know if I will actually be able to effectively teach anymore today, but Merlin knows I couldn’t be worse that that toad…” McGonagall lost herself in thought again.

“ _Minerva!_ Honestly, if we are going to plan anything you’re going to have to pull yourself together, I cannot continue to draw you away from your thoughts after every sentence.” Snape snapped.

“You’re right, I’m sorry Severus. I’m just so _angry_. I cannot _believe_ she would do something like this! Right, right, losing myself in my thoughts is bad,” she muttered at the look she got from Snape. “What do you think we should do, Severus?” McGonagall asked, struggling to focus her attention on the conversation.

“Oh, do I have ideas for you, Minerva…”

………...

It was dinnertime in the Great Hall, and Professor McGonagall almost seemed…giddy.

 _Oh, no,_ Harry thought, _they must have planned to confront Umbridge tonight…_ he stopped that train of thought. He didn’t much care anymore, not after what Dumbledore had told him earlier in his office…

Harry saw Snape give a tiny nod in his direction, which he returned. Snape must have sensed something was off, however, because he set down his fork and left his spot at the Head Table, heading toward Harry’s seat at the Gryffindor table.

“Mr. Potter, may I have a word with you?” Snape drawled. Only Harry noticed that slight shake in his voice.

“Alright, Professor.” Harry pushed away his plate, despite only having eaten one forkful of steak-and-kidney pie, and stood to follow Snape out of the Hall, with a reassuring smile toward Ron that said he was fine.

Snape, surprisingly, did not lead him down into the dungeons to his office, and instead lead him into an abandoned classroom not far from the Hall.

“Are you alright, Harry?” he asked, once he had firmly closed the door and cast a silencing spell on it, so nobody that walked by could hear anybody talking within the room.

“I’m fine, sir.” Harry replied.

“Is this about your conversation with the Headmaster, or the imminent resignation of your Defense teacher?” Snape asked.

“The former, sir.” Harry answered.

“Was it about the prophecy?” Snape asked bluntly.

“How did you…” Harry started to ask.

“I have my ways of finding things out, Harry. I just need to know if you’re alright.” Snape answered with a wave of his hand, effectively dismissing the topic of how he knew.

“I’m…alright, Professor.” Harry answered.

“You don’t seem to be, Harry, but I understand if you choose not to talk to me. I just want you to know that my door is always open if you need to talk, alright?” Snape replied.

“Thank you, Professor. Nobody has ever said that to me before.” Harry answered with the ghost of a smile. He still seemed to be a bit lost in thought.

“I mean it, too. If you need to talk about the prophecy, or all of the stuff you’ve had to go through, or even need help with homework, you can come to me. Now that you know that I’m only pretending to hate you around other students, I want to help you as much as I can.” Snape replied, returning Harry’s small smile.

Then Harry did something completely, totally, utterly unexpected; he took two steps forward and hugged Snape, wrapping his arms around the older man’s waist and pressing his face into his shoulder.

Snape nearly flinched, he hadn’t been hugged since he was fifteen, but he held it back and returned the hug as best he could. After a few moments, where both Harry _and_ Snape had to compose themselves, Harry let go of Snape and backed up a few steps.

“I’m sorry, Professor, I don’t know what came over me…” Harry started apologizing.

“It’s quite alright, Harry.” Snape cut him off. “Better now?” He asked quietly, even though no one could hear them.

Harry gave a shy nod.

“Good. Now, I have to go, Professor McGonagall and I have some things we need to do,” Snape winked at Harry, making him grin, “And I have some things I need to grab before we get started. Remember what I said earlier, Harry. Come to me if you need anything, alright?” Snape said.

“Okay, Professor, I will.” Harry replied. At this, Snape gave Harry a small smile and undid the enchantments he put on the door, opened it, and ushered Harry through and back toward the Great Hall.

Harry grinned at him before disappearing through the doors. After a few moments, McGonagall walked out of the same doors into the corridor, just as Snape knew she would.

“Ah, Severus. Do you have everything. She just left dinner about five minutes ago, when you were talking to Harry.” McGonagall stated upon seeing Snape standing a few feet from the doors.

“I just need to grab them from my office.” Snape replied.

“Wonderful, I’ll walk with you.” McGonagall grinned and lead the way down to Snape’s office in the dungeons. She seemed a lot more cheerful than usual.

After they got everything they needed, the two made their way back up to the sixth floor, where the Defense classroom, and teacher’s office, were located. McGonagall seemed to grow simultaneously more angry and giddy as they got closer to their destination.

Luckily, the classroom door was unlocked, and the office door stood ajar at the top of the short flight of steps leading up to it, so Snape and McGonagall didn’t have to announce their arrival by stating any passwords.

McGonagall lead the way, meaning she was the first to enter the office.

“Why _hello_ , Dolores, wonderful day isn’t it!” McGonagall yelled as she slammed the door open.

“Oh, hello Minerva, Severus. And you’re right Minerva, it is a fine day. To what do I owe this visit?” Umbridge giggled. Snape couldn’t tell if she didn’t notice McGonagall’s rage, or was simply choosing to ignore it.

He pushed in front of McGonagall before she could hex Umbridge into oblivion. “Oh, not much, Dolores, just a simple fact of the _illegal use of a blood quill on multiple students!”_ Snape yelled.

Umbridge’s face drained of color. “I’m assuming that Mr. Potter has been spreading these lies, I assure you, I have not…” Umbridge started to say.

“ _We saw the scars, woman! DO NOT LIE TO US! You made Harry carve_ I must not tell lies _into the back of his hand you evil, twisted, TOAD!!!”_ McGonagall screamed from behind Snape.

“Why would you believe anything that comes out of…” Umbridge started.

“ _SILENCIO!!!_ ” Snape yelled, jabbing his wand at Umbridge. “Now, we have a little treat for you, Dolores, do enjoy it. _Petrificus Totalis!_ ” He jabbed his wand at Umbridge a second time, making her incapable of moving any part of her body except for her eyes.

He then stepped forward and dumped two vials of potions down her throat. “You’ll need an antidote for the first of these, in order to get rid of the effects, the second one is permanent. Oh, and you’ll need a Potions Master as advanced as I am in order to get an antidote.” Snape turned to McGonagall. “Should I tell her the symptoms?” He asked with mock innocence.

“But of course, Severus, you wouldn’t even tell me.” McGonagall replied.

“Very well. You will not be able to speak until you get an antidote for the first potion. Instead, you will croak like the toad that you look like…” Snape was cut off by McGonagall’s snort of laughter. Umbridge’s eyes widened in horror. Snape continued once he was sure McGonagall was listening again. “The second, permanent, potion, doesn’t have an antidote. I created it myself at the beginning of this year. I specifically designed it to use on you, Dolores. I was _praying_ for something like this to happen so I could use it, though this wasn’t exactly what I had hoped for…” He paused to give Dolores a murderous look. “This potion will cause you to grow a toad-like wart every time you do that stupid cough of yours. I dare you to annoy people with your stupid ‘ _Hem hem_ ’ now.” McGonagall was, once again, doubled over in laughter. She composed herself after a few minutes of laughing. “Anything you wanted to add, Minerva?” Snape asked.

“But of course, Severus.” She waved her wand, turning all of the kittens on the plates into donkeys, and turning the pink color of the walls into an ugly puke color. “Do you like the new décor, Severus?” she asked. Now it was Snape’s turn to double over in laughter. “The spell I used is specifically designed so it cannot be undone by anyone but me, and it will be in every office you occupy, Dolores, so you can’t just change offices to escape it. Also, just for fun…” McGonagall playfully flicked her wand, causing Umbridge’s pink cardigan to shred. “I always hated that thing…” now both Snape and McGonagall were doubled over laughing. Umbridge was trying desperately to say something, but she couldn’t break Snape’s Silencing Spell. Snape waved his wand, undoing only that spell. Umbridge tried to speak, but all that came out were croaks. Snape and McGonagall laughed for a few more minutes before Snape recast the spell and turned deadly serious.

“If you ever do something like that to one of my students again, woman, rest assured that I will not be so lenient. You’re very lucky I like my job, toad, or else I would have done a lot more painful, permanent damage. I believe the same goes for Minerva. You stay away from our students, especially Harry.” Snape muttered in a deadly whisper. Umbridge’s eyes once again widened in horror.

Snape waved his wand and undid the Silencing Spell once again, then left the room with McGonagall, closing the door behind him, leaving Umbridge stuck in the same position as before, croaking loudly.

“Do you really care about Harry, after everything that’s happened, Severus? After all of his rule-breaking and recklessness?” McGonagall asked as they made their way down the corridor.

“Always.”


End file.
